State Route 57 project in Elyria taking off

Elyria Mayor Holly Brinda, center, and State Senator Gayle Manning, to the right of Brenda, are flanked by those involved with the Ohio Department of Transportation's state Route 57 corridor project, which broke ground July 1. Funding for the project was made possible by Gov. John Kasich and the implementation of Ohio’s Jobs and Transportation Plan, Jerry Wray, director of ODOT said.

ELYRIA — One of the highest crash zone areas in the state will finally get a face lift, said Elyria Mayor Holly Brinda.

Ohio Department of Transportation, city of Elyria and state officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the state Route 57 road construction project July 1.

Allen Biehl, project engineer and district deputy director of ODOT, said that this project is a huge milestone and investment for Elyria. The project, he said, started almost a decade ago.

“We’re proud to be here today, making a $22 million investment in Lorain County and Elyria,” Biehl said.

Advertisement

Jerry Wray, director of ODOT, said the project is going to cause some inconveniences for a while.

“But we will get through that,” Wray said.

A lot goes into a project like Route 57 such as environmental and utility studies, he said.

“If the people of the department of transportation don’t take care of business, projects can languish for year after year after year,” Wray said.

He also said that he wants to respect the city and work with its leaders through the project which will be done in 2016.

“We’re going to be here for a while,” Wray said. “You’re going to see orange barrels, and there’s going to be changes in traffic pattern.”

State Rep. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, said that the Ohio Turnpike borrowing money has brought this project to life.

“This is the ideal project of saying that the turnpike money has to have some sort of a nexus to a project like this,” Manning said. “What this is going to do with our economy is just wonderful.”

Brinda has been instrumental, Manning said, and came to Columbus to talk to the transportation committee when there was discussion about bonding the Ohio Turnpike.

This is the first major transportation project in the city since she’s been in office, Brinda said.

The project, she said, will improve access to the city’s major commercial area. The city also will be looking at plans for growth.

“We think it has an awful lot of potential to help move our community forward,” Brinda said, adding that the city is trying to create its first merchant association for the Midway Mall area which is on Midway Mall Boulevard.

About the Author

Kaylee is the Avon-Avon Lake reporter, but you can catch her covering different stories across the county. She is a Kent State University alumna who enjoys family, friends and everything Cleveland. Reach the author at kremington@morningjournal.com
or follow Kaylee on Twitter: @MJ_KRemington.